Lady Eagle's Season Ends In Region Tournament Shootout

By Chris Silcox Like a heavyweight boxing match, Oliver Springs seemed to have the Seymour Lady Eagles on the ropes Wednesday night in the region semi-finals at Loudon High School. The Lady Bobcats jumped out to a 28-14 half-time lead but then saw the Lady Eagles counter-punch with some grit and determination in the second half and put the Lady Bobcats seconds away from a knockout punch before Oliver Springs finally prevailed 72-60 in double-overtime. "Oliver Springs did a great job of disrupting our offensive flow," said Seymour coach Brian Channel. " We turned the ball over a lot and gave them the big lead early, but our girls showed a lot of heart in the second half. I have a lot of respect for the kids; they just refused to quit. We had the lead in the fourth quarter, in the first overtime and the second overtime but just ran out of steam." Oliver Springs used a quick and trapping defense to force Seymour into a total of 32 turnovers. Lady Bobcat sophomore point guard Laura Hall displayed why she is considered one of the best all-around basketball players in the area with 30-points 10 steals, and nine assists. Hall wasn't the only sophomore that had a big game, as Lady Eagle sophomore Brooke Johnson went for 36-points and 19-rebounds, including game tying buckets in the last seconds of regulation and the first overtime. Seymour fans are probably getting used to Johnson's gaudy numbers by now but Heather Wright, Johnson's sophomore classmate, gave them a pleasant glimpse of the future with her play at point guard against Hall. Although Hall's final numbers may not indicate it, Wright played district 4-AA Player of the Year toe-to-toe for most of the night and will most assuredly benefit from this encounter "We really saw a point guard mature and come of age tonight," Channel said regarding Wrights performance. She really played well, but that Hall girl at Oliver Springs is just a special player. We've got three more years with a big chunk of our team, so there's no doubt our best days our ahead of us." Oliver Springs led 14-8 after a Johnson lay-up to close the first quarter and then went on a 10-2 run by creating Seymour turnovers and converting then into transition buckets. The Lady Bobcats had extended their lead to 24-10 before Danielle Wolfe ended the Seymour scoring drought by hitting a technical free throw at the 2:00 mark. Johnson got an old school three-point play before Oliver Springs scored the last four-points of the half to lead 28-14 at the intermission. The second-half would then prove to be a microcosm of the their entire season for the Lady Eagles. Trailing by double digits to a team that incorporates a relentless pressure defense with some offensive weapons to boot, it would to be an up-hill battle for Seymour to even stay in this game. The Lady Eagles set out to climb the hill step by step beginning with a gutsy third-quarter effort. Senior guard Jaime McMillan got the rally started by going hard to the hole, getting fouled in the act and sinking her two tosses to make it 32-21 at the 5:03 mark. Wright then made a clean block of a Hall three-point attempt before grabbing the deflection and working it to McMillan, who drilled a trey in front of the rowdy Oliver Springs student section. Oliver Springs hit a free toss before McMillan came back down and penetrated the lane before dishing a nice assist over to an open Johnson for the lay-up. Seymour then got a tough Johnson lay-up and a Danielle Wolfe put-back to cut the Lady Bobcat lead to 35-30 at the 1:47 mark. After another defensive stand, Johnson hit two free throw's and Oliver Springs missed two on the other end to make the score 35-32 at the end of three. Oliver Springs extended their lead to 42-33 with 6:00 to go before Johnson started another Seymour rally with a three-point play off a McMillan assist. The Lady Eagles then ran off eight in a row with nice hoops by Johnson and Ashley Murphy to take their first lead at 43-42 with 3:20 left. The score then went back-and-forth, with Oliver Springs taking a 50-49 lead after a free toss with 52 seconds left. Seymour turned the ball over on the ensuing offensive series, and saw Oliver Springs get the ball to Hall, who in-turn put on a ball-handling exhibition before finally being fouled with 20 seconds left. Hall stepped to the line and connected on one of the two attempts making it 51-49. The Lady Eagles came back down and forced the ball into Johnson on the block with a Lady bobcat hanging off both arms. Johnson grabbed the pass and put up a quick shot that bounced off the rim and back into Johnson's hands. This time Johnson knocked down the lay-up to tie the score with eight seconds left. Seymour fans held their collective breath as Hall took the inbound pass and streaked down the court and got up a 10-footer from the baseline that rolled off the front of the rim as time expired in regulation with overtime looming ahead. Seymour scored first in the extra 4:00 on a Wolfe Lay-up off a Johnson assist. Oliver Springs then ran off five consecutive before Murphy hit the front end of a one and one with 1:57 left. Murphy missed the second but Wolfe wrestled away the rebound and got the put-back to tie it 56-56. Hall then gave the Bobcats the lead on a lay-up and the teams swapped timeouts with 44.3 seconds left. Seymour committed a turnover but got the ball back after two missed free throws. Johnson rebounded and threw it to McMillan who dribbled past the mid-court line and called a timeout with 9.4 seconds left. Johnson threw the ball into Wolfe. Wolfe dribbled around the key and hit Johnson from the left wing. Johnson was quickly double teamed and missed her first attempt but once again got her own board and powered in a lay-up at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime at 58-58. Seymour scored first on a Johnson five-footer, but it was all Hall and the Lady Bobcats from there pulling away for the 72-60 win. The win puts Oliver Springs into Friday nights championship game against Austin East, who defeated Carter 44-40 in the night cap, and guarantees them a spot in the sub-state. Oliver Springs improved to 28-5 on the year and Seymour finished their season with a 17-14 mark. Seymour scoring: Brooke Johnson 36; Jaime McMillan 8; Ashley Murphy 3; Jessi Peterson 4; Danielle Wolfe 9.